Leia Toovey, writing for the Economic Calendar, said “Nickel futures experienced upside earlier in the month when Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to stop all mining in the world’s biggest exporter of nickel. This comes after the Philippines suspended mining activities at numerous nickel mines found to be in violation of environmental regulations.”

Nickel Prices Break Even in Q1

Our own Raul de Frutos recently wrote extensively on the current state of the nickel market, and found that while most industrial metals will finish Q1 2017 on the upside, nickel is one exception.

de Frutos wrote: “The metal has traded up and down to finish the first quarter close to flat. Nickel prices are significantly higher than they were one year ago and traders are now finding little reason to be any more bullish than bearish due to a mix of news that helps both positions.”

He concluded that nickel is in dire need of new fundamental price drivers, positive or negative.

“With all of this uncertainty, industrial buyers might want to wait for new clues before making purchasing decisions,” he wrote.

How will nickel and base metals fare in 2017? You can find a more in-depth copper price forecast and outlook in our brand new Monthly Metal Buying Outlook report. For a short- and long-term buying strategy with specific price thresholds: